Battery charging control system



Nov. 14, 1933. A J. l. BELLAMY 1,934,692

BATTERY CHARGING CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Feb. 13. 1928 @bien moana assicorrientese Beiarvare The present invention relates in general to hat tory charging and regulating systems, and more particularly to such a system for controlling the charging ci? storage batteries that supply cur=l 5 rent to radio receiving sets, although the inve@ tion is not necessarily confined specifically thereto.

When a radio set is supplied with current from a storage battery, it is desirable to have tile startn l@ ing and stopping of the charge of the batters? au-1 tomatically controlled so as to relieve the user of the set of this added task. @ne system of battery regulation that has 4been used to some extent in connection with storage batteries employs a marginal relay which pulls up to stop the charge of the battery ariel 'which' again falls back when the voltage again becomes low to restart the charge. This arrangement is not entirely satis= factory for home use 'for cutting o the charge 2G on account of the close adjustment required in order to cause a relay to rali back' the close limits required so as to start the charge be@ ore the battery discharged to a dangerous point. it was therefore conceived that it would be a iogical step to aiways start the charge when the radio set is turned o ratier than depending upon tire drooping back of a mal-gmail? adjuster@ reiay to start citarse.

it is accordingly an object o the invention to 3o provide a suitable .regulator controlled by the in termittent operation of the set for causing. the battery to oe charged as often as it is useci so that it is always kept near the point of full charge.

It is a further object to provide a regulating devvice which Wiii 'prevent charging while the set is turnecl on and wiii start the charge only after the set has been turned off so as to prevent noises in the radio set which may occur when the chars ing rate is irigli or when certain types oi' chargers are used.

is a further ooject of the invention to provide au arrangement which in arldition to regulating the charging of an A battery, supplies current to so calieci E battery eliminator iin oase one is used) only White the set is in operation, tire current beine" disconnected from the eliminato-To automaticaily the A otter? operating operates its springs i2 'and 13 to connect oatterywreguiating portion ori-tire regalators as sell as the A battery portion thereof, is controlled. from the flow of current in the A batterry leads, the orly connection to the B oat= tory leads being a high-resistance bridged marginai relay vSor controlling the stopping or the charging operation or the B battery when the Voltage thereof has reached the predetermined point.

A further feature or the arrangement is that the charging operations of the two batteries are stopped separately as they reach their proper respective voltages.

A farther eatare is that in case the radio set is turned on again Afor use before one or both a'teries have been fully charged, the charging operation is automatically halted until the set is turned oi?.

A more complete understanding of my inven tion may loc obtained from the detailed description and claims which are to folico, reference bein@ had to the accompanying drawing ia which i oiagrammaticaily represents a regulator for radio systems employing a E battery elimi-s riat'cr and a wet A battery,

2 is a modiicatcn ci. i for similar 3 is a modification o 2, for systems employing wet A and E batteries.

c is a modification or l, for systems Sti empioying wet "A and B ba teries.

Referring in detail to Fig. L the conductors e, and 5 represent the conductors which con-J nect the rmirials of the .A" battery to tire terminais ot? time switch K in the radio set. The wind of relay o, 'which is a low resistance winding, has been placed in series tic conductors e and 5 so that when the radio set is tuned on, relay 6 Willi operate in a circuit which may be traced :from the positive terminal o tite A battery, conductor 3, through the contacts or? key in the radio set, conductor 5, relay t5, conductor to tiie negative tern ai ot the A batteri. Reiay 'S in operating moves its armatore to close spring 7 aofi its contact complete circuit for relay t la circuit traceable from the positive r battery, conductor E', conductor t v of relay 6i, spring l -rergiiieri t does not yet opere-te became itissr Serina El'. and. r:its make contact.` Relay 8 charger, stopping the charging process.

0 24 deenergizes to separate enmmerclalv currenttoithe B eliminator via rings 12 and 13 and their make contacts,springs1 1'! and 18 and `their backnontacts, and conductors 19 and 20;.`

Relays Stand 8 will/remain energizedas long as the radid set remains in use. When, the set has been turned ofi, the circuit forI relay 6 will be openediat key K and relay 6 will cleenergize.v In doing soiit releases-:the spring '1j from its make contact thus openingthe original energizing circuit of relay 8 and removing thev short circuit of relay 14.., Relay 14 will now operate in series with relay 8, the circuit of.' these relaysbeing traceable from the; positive terminal of the A battery, conductor 3, conductor 9, resistance 10, winding of relay. spring 1l. and its make contact, conductor winding-oi relay l4, conductor 16, conductonl 4t to the negative terminal of the A battery'- Relay 14 in operating moves its springs 17 andi 18 into engagement with their make contactsthereby removing the commercial current fromlconductors` 19 and 20w which lead to the B eliminator and connecting it to conductors 21 and 22 which lead to the Relay/ 14 by moving spring 23 into engagementj withi its make contact completes the circuit for; relayl 24 which may be traced from `the positive-c` terminal oi the A" battery, conductor 3, conf ductor 9, spring 23` and its make'contact, con:4

ductor 25, winding of relay 24, conductor 16, con ductor 4 to the negative; terminal of the VA battery.' Relay 24 is margined to operate only.y when the A battery is iully charged.

Assuming that the radio set has been running,` fory a comparatively long; period and has caused. arconsiderable. drain on. the A battery, itfol-` lows that when relay 14 has completed the circuit of relay 24 at spring 23 and its make contact, relay 24 will not operate because of the reduced voltage of the: A battery. Therefore, since relay 14 by the movement of springs 1'7 and 18 into engagement with their make contacts has connected commerciai current to the A battery charger, the charger will operate to charge the A battery.

When the voltage of the A battery has been increased. to full charge, relay 24 will operate in the circuit previously traced to move spring 26 into engagement with its make contact, short circuiting relay 8, causing relay 8 to deenergize. Relay 8, in deenergizlng allows springs 11, 12, and 13; to disengage their make contacts, thus breaking thecircuit of relay 14 and disconnecting commercial current from the A battery When its circuit is broken, relay 14 will deenergize and 24 deenergizes to separate spring 26 and its springs 1'7 and 18 and their back contacts, relay 14. will prepare the circuit for the B eliminator so that when the set is again turned on, the B eliminator will function. Relay 24 will also deenergize when its circuit is broken and releaseits spring 26 to remove the short circuit about relay 8, placing the apparatus in its normal position.

Should the radio set be turned on and the relay 6 operated between the time relay 24 operates to short circuit relay 8 and the time relay spring 26 and its make contact, the engagement of spring 'I with its make contact would short circuit the A battery by way of spring 26 and its make contact. Although this state of things may occur only once in a long time, the resistance 10 has regulating apparatus is A battery charger.

been placed in,the circuit to prevent damage to the equipment.:Y

It will be assumed now that when the radio set was turned oi! therehad been a very little drain on the A battery so4 that this battery still remains at full charge.. operates in a short time when its circuit is completed by relay 14 as has been previously described. Thus the charge is stopped and the returned to its normal position.

It will be seenthat: the regulator I have provided'automatically controls the charging process and when the; equipment is not functioning there is no drainorn the battery.

Referring nowftw Fig. 2, the operationqoi this system, which is'. a. modication of theorie just described, willLbeexplained in detail...

Conductors 3;, 4', and 5 again represent those which feed ther radio set current from1the ;A battery. Relay/ 6` is again placed in serieswith conductors 4 and. 5 so that when thefradiu set has been turned, on the relay 6 willenergize in ag. circuit from. the positive terminaloi the,- A battery, conductor 3, through thecontacts of key K in theradio set, conductorfB, winding of relay 6, conductor 4 to the negative. terminal o! the A battery. Relay 6, in energzing;,moves its spring 'I- out of engagement with` its back contact andmoves its spring l0 into engagement with its alternate contact. This movement o! spring 105 connects the commercial current to the B battery `eliminator via conductor 14. Relay 6 will. remain energized as` long as the radio set;isin use.

When the radio set is turned oit, relay 6 will deenergize to move spring 10 into engagement with its back contact, thus transferring the commercial current to the A battery charger via `conductor 15. The complete circuit of the commercial current'may be traced from the tap, conductor 12, spring l1 and its back contact, spring 10 and its back contact, conductor 15, A battery charger, conductor 16, conductor 13 to the tap. The charger will operate to charge the A battery.

Relay 6 in deenergizing also completes the circuit for relay 8 at spring 7 and its back'contact. This circuit is traceable from the positive pole of the A battery, conductor 3, conductor 9, winding of relay 8, spring 7 and its back contact, conductor 4 to the negative pole of the A" battery. Relay 8 is so margined that it will only operate when the voltage of at its maximum.`

It will be assumed that the radio set was in use for av considerably long period of time and that the drain on the A battery was such that there was an appreciable drop in its voltage. Therefore relay 8 will not energize when the set is turned off. f

After the charger has brought the voltage of the A battery up to its maximum, the relay 8 will energize in the circuit previously traced and by moving its spring 1l out of engagement with its back contact will stop the charger by removing the supply of commercial current. It can be seen that relay 8 will remain energized al long as the voltage of the A battery remains at its maximum and the radio set is not in use.

,If the set should be turned on again, relay 6 will energize to connect commercial current to the eliminator as before described, and deener gize relay 8 to complete the commercial current circuit of the eliminator.

In this case, relay 24-.`

the A" battery is being magically adjusted will energize unf ducto-fr l5 to sou ce ace-1,692

From the above it will be seen that relay 8 will remain energized at all times when the voltage of the A battery is up and the set is idle, and that there will be a constant drain on the battery. However, this drain is so small that it is practically negligible tor it would taire a period of months 'to run the battery down to such a point that the voltage would he insuicient to hold relay 8 energized. this should occur, relay s would deenergize and start the charging process..

The charging would continue until the voltage was again restored, 'when relay e would again.

system from the fi series relay co radio set, en., bridged across stops the chaig reached v as long as the radio set e are those iv rent fronti. oil relay, nc of the lf3 the lit wl*- f reached.-

When tl relay d u tory is up and Conductors E' and only the radio set with cui'm :Kwis i '.2. e

cattery. Si" el -ates the cut" elly h idged across the terminals h steps the charging f ce moving s` of relays bien are set is turn ,relay d will and complete the of relay 8 s scribed in co' complete the for rei .y o and its baci; Contact, that circuit acc-zahle from the positive terminal of the E battery', conductor 3', conductor e', spring and its heels contact, winding oi relay 3', conductor ai to the negative terminal the E hatteiy. lie-lay the fr battery voltage reaches maximum, s ici commercial current is connected to thew i charger :from the source oy way of conductor is, spring lil and. haci; contact, spring il and its back contact, conductor l2, A charger, corl= The A charger will then commence tof'charge the d battery W hen the voltage of. the fr hatte y brought to the maximum allowance, relay 2i vi operate to disconnect commercial current from the il charger by moving spring il out et enQ gagement with its hack contact.

Likewise, the relay S Willem-t energize at once, and commercial current will loe connected to the E charger in multiple With the s charger by way of spring il and its hach contact, conductor l2', land conductor ld. iTherefore thev charging process o the B battery will take place and it Will continue until the voltage of the B battery has been brought to its maximum.

When the maximum has been reached, relay 8 will operate to disconnect commercial current from the B charger by moving spring il out of engagement with its back contact.

If, during the process of charging either the A battery or the B battery, or both batteries, the radio set should be turned on, relay 6 will 'battery up to the prescribed limit.

operate as before described and stop the charging by moving its springs "I and 14 out of engagement with their back contacts.

lt will be noted that in case of Fig. `3 as in Fig. 2, the cut-off relays are normally bridged across the terminals of their respective batteries so that there is a slight drain upon these batteries at all times. The drain, however, is lunconsequential since the .resistance of the relays is high.

stated before, the apparatus diagrammatically represented in Fig. 4 is a modification oi that in Fig. l and is used in radio systems einploying Wet A and B batteries. The equipment used to control the charging oi each battery is similar. The series relay d has been made common to the 'two groups of equipment which operate independently of each other, since there would he no advantage in having two series relays when one relay will serve the purpose.

before described, relay 6 will operatewhen the radio set is taken into use and will deenergize when the set is taken out oi use. When relay d operates, it moves its springs 7 and l0 into engagement with their make contacts, thereby completing the obvious circuits for relays 3 and S respectively. Relays d and 8 will operate and at springs il nd il "will complete locking circuits for themselves through relays lll and ifi', respectively. These latter relays wl not operate at this time, however, since they are short cirn suited at springs and lo of relay e'. Relays S and VYlso :nove their springs l2 and l2 n ent with their maite contacts .to

prepare circuits for relays Zei and 24.-', respectively.

en the radio set is turned off, the circuit for relay d he opened and relay d Will decriergiae, moving springs Y and l out oi engagement with their nia-ke contacts, thereby removw nog the short circuits about relays le and li'reg spectively. When this is done, relay le will operseries with relay 3, the circuit of these relays heilig traceable from the positive 'terminal the ff-i battery, conductor 3, conductor .9, winding o; *clay spring il and its make conu t winding of relay lei, spring 23 and its maire contact, conductor conductor l to the negative terminal of the A 1cattery. Relay ic.- in corn letes the circuit for relay 2li at spring l5, and. current to the el charger to operate the charger. The commercial. current traverses the following path: conductor 2li, spring 22 and its haelt contact, spring ici and its maire Contact, conductor i8, A chargenconductor i9 to source.

Relay 24 is adjusted so that it will not operate except when the voltage of the A battery has reached its predetermined limit. Therefore, relay will not operate at this time and the charging process `will start to bring the voltage of the "5, When this limit is reached, relay 24 will operate and, in doing so, will more spring 23 to open the circuit for relays le and 8. These relays will deenergize and at springs l and l2, respectively, will open the circuit oil-relay 24 which will then deenergize. Relay 14, will move springwlc out ci engagement with its make contact, thereby disconnecting commercial current Irom the A charger to stop the charging process. Before this is done, however, relay 24 when it operates, moves spring 22 out of engagement with its back contact, inserting the resistance 21 into the circuit of the charger so that the current ow is materially reduced before .the spring 16 separates at spring i6 connects commercial Lacasse batteries separately as each is restera-2d 'to a predetermined condition of charge.

4. In combination, a storage battery, a circuit for discharging said storage batteryn relay connected in shunt of said discharge cir= cuit and adjusted so as 'to ice ors-crateri 'by curm rent from said battery only 'when the iiattery has been charged to a predetermined eucaoum'; means for causing current to iiow intermittently .in'said discharge circuit, and control means responsive to the flow or current in said discharge circuit for deenergizing said relay coil as long as eurent is flowing in said discharge circuit, and a charging circuit for said storage tattery, 'means controlled jointly by saiol reiay and said control means for closing the charging circuit operated at the time the flow of discharge current ceases and means responsive either tc the operation ci in the discharge circuit to operate said charge.

starting relay, a test relay controlled by the charge starting relay, and means controlled ley the test relay for controlling the charge starting relay for opening the charging circuit.

JOHN

Can

Elli@ 

